However, when paired with a Cloudlifter, I think it performed marvelously. Depending on what you’re recording that may be a good or bad thing.Īs much as I really liked this interface, it had a bit too much noise for VO work with the SM7B. It also sounded the most sonically unique of the bunch as it was a bit more robust.
#Onyx blackjack for bass recording pro
It felt good, and it played with Pro Tools very well. The Blackjack was probably the easiest interface of all. The Cloudlifter improved its performance a little, but not quite enough for my recommendation. While the 2i2 sounded good… when paired with the SM7B it was simply too noisy. While the Cloudlifter improved its performance more than any other interface, the Micport Pro was still too noisy for VO work with the SM7B. While the design is cool, as it fits nicely on the end of a microphone and is completely USB powered, it did not offer much gain without also adding the most noise of the group. Remember, these recommendations are targeted at SM7B users the interfaces that are “not recommended” below might be perfectly suited to other tasks (including higher-output microphones and louder sources). To keep this simple, I have divided the interfaces into three categories: The ones I would not recommend, the ones I would recommend, and the ones I would recommend with a Cloudlifter. After everything was organized in the session, I compared every clip, one after another, listening for sound quality and noise. I did this to maximize the volume of each track as it would be in a real VO situation. Once in Pro Tools, I applied the same compression, de-essing, and limiting to each pass. We sent a tone through each interface before every test to ensure that they were all adding the same amount of gain. We also tested every mic using a Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter, which is a phantom powered box that adds about 25dB of extra gain to a dynamic mic’s output level. Here are the audio interfaces we tested… Device VO also offered a good medium-volume audio source. This seemed like a good place to start, given that many new SM7B owners are using the mic for vocals or VO work.
I set out to discover the best audio interface solution for the budget SM7B user. Inexpensive preamps tend to not have have much gain, or they do at the cost of more noise. This means it needs a lot of gain… and if you’re recording something especially quiet you’ll need a ton of gain. Not only is it a superb vocal mic, not only is it a staple in the broadcast and voiceover world, but it sounds fabulous on guitars amps, bass amps, banjo, mandolin, drums, and it is probably my favorite mic to put on a hi hat.Īll that being said about the SM7B, it is also notorious for one more thing: low output. It is used by dozens of top recording engineers all the time and has snuck its way in front of some pretty heavy-hitting crooners like John Mayer, Keith Urban, Bono, and a relatively unknown singer named Michael Jackson on a fairly obscure album called Thriller! So, we decided to test the SM7B with a slew of budget home studio interfaces.Īllow me to begin with the SM7B… While it seems to be gaining popularity, I think it is still one of the most overlooked microphones in the home studio world. Lately, following some of my recent online declarations of love for the Shure SM7B, one of the more frequent questions has been what preamp or audio interface to pair it with. As an engineer, I get asked all kinds of questions from home recording enthusiasts.
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